Chair construction



July 23, 1957 A. c. HOVEN EI'AL CHAIR CONSTRUCTION 5 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed May 18. 1955 INVENTORS illal z'ezl C.Hoz)ezz "9 hZizli ez 1':-JVOrdmaz'li ATTORNEY A. 0; HOVEN ETAL July 23, 1957 CHAIR CONSTRUCTION 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 18, 1955 v I INVENTOR-S Alfred [lily 012211 J-n illfez' 1?.Wordmarli ATTQRNEY y 2 '1957 A.C.HOVEN HAL 2,800,171

CHAIR CONSTRUCTION Filed May 18, 1955 a Sheets-Sheet 3 WITNESS mvENfoRsI d 5. Not/er:

ATTORNEY United States Patent The present invention relates to chairs.The primary objects of the invention are to provide a chair having aseat and back of plywood or the like and a;

metal supporting frame therefor which is simple and especially sturdy inconstruction and reasonably-economical in manufacture. I v TIllustrative embodiments of the'invention are shownin the accompanyingdrawings, wherein: I Y i H Figure 1 is a perspective view of a chairconstructed according to the invention; 1

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the same; Figure 3 is a frontelevational view of the same; I Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentaryhorizontal sectional view of parts of the chair taken on line 4- 4 ofFigure 2; 1

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of parts of the chairtaken on line 5-5 of Figure 2;.

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of parts of the chairtaken on line 6-6 of Figure 3; Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional viewof parts at the rear of the chair, similar to Figure 6 but showing amodi-. fied construction; and

Figure 8 is a similar sectional view of parts at thefront of themodified chair.

Referring now in detailto these drawings wherein like parts aredesignated by the same numerals in the several views, and referringfirst particularly to Figures 1 through 6, the chair there showngenerally comprises a metal supporting frame or structure on which aremounted a seat 10 and a back 11, the seat and back being desirably madeof plywood, plastic or other suitable material.

Beneath the seat 10 is a pair of parallel, horizontally disposed,forwardly-rearwardly spaced, upwardly opening channel bars, the frontchannel bar being designated 12 and the rear channel bar beingdesignated 13. The front channel bar 12 has a lower web-portion 14 (seeFigures 4 and 5) from which there extend-s upwardly a front wall 15having a front flange 16 extending forwardly from its upper edge, and arear wall 17 having a rear flange '18 extending rearwardly from itsupper edge. The rear channel bar 13 is similar and has a lower webportion 19 (see Figures 4 and 6) from which there extends upwardly afront wall 20 having a front flange 21 extending forwardly from itsupper edge, and a rear wall 22 having a rear flange 23 extendingrearwardly from its upper edge. The chair seat 10 is supported on theflanges 16, 18, 21 and 23 of channel bars 12 and 13. Fastening means areprovided for securing the seat 10 to the channel bars and as here 17 arebent or curled rearwardly, then outwardly and finally forwardly toconnect with the curled end portions 26 of the front wall, the adjacentend portions 26, 27 being welded together to form downwardly openingsubstantially cylindrical front leg sockets.

The front and rear walls 20 and 22 of the rear channel bar 13 havesimilar end portions which extend outwardly beyond the web 19 of thisrear channel bar. The end portions 28 at opposite ends of the front wall20 are bent or curled forwardly, then outwardly and then rearwardly,while the end portions 29 at opposite ends of the rear wall 22 are bentor curled rearwardly, then outwardly and finally forwardly into weldedconnection with the curledend portions 28 of the front wall 20, thusforming downwardly opening substantially cylindrical rear leg sockets;

'Legs 30 are provided for the chair and as here shown are of: tubularmetal which may be of downwardly tapering'form. The upper ends of theselegs 30 are seated in the leg sockets of. the channel bars 12 and 13,the channel bars being so disposed and so formed that the legs 30depending therefrom are downwardly divergent.

, vThe pair ,of back supports 31 for the chair are likewise desirablyfabricated from metal tubing. As seen in Figures 4 and 5,,the forwardends of the back supports are seated in recesses 32 embossed in thelower part of the front channel bar 12. The back supports 31 extendrearwardly from the front channel bar 12 into engagement with the rearchannel bar 13 which is likewise embossed to form recesses 33 forseating the back supports. The back supports 31 are preferably welded tothe channel bars 12 and 13 at their points of intersection. From therear channel bar 13, the back supports extend 11p wardly in the rear ofthe chair seat, and the chair back 11 is secured to these uprightportions 34 of the back supports as by means of rivets 35.

The rear channel bar 13 is at a slightly lower level than the frontchannel bar 12, thus conforming to the shape and slope of the chair seat10. The lower forward portions of the back supports 31 likewiseslopefromthe front channel bar 12 rearwardly-downwardly beneath the seat10't-o-the rear channel bar 13.

In the modified construction shown in Figures 7 and 8, the back supports131 extend through circular openings 132 in the rear wall 117 of thefront channel bar 112 and rest on the web 114 of this front channel bar.Extending rearwardly, the back supports 131 pass through alignedcircular openings 133 and 233 in the front wall and the rear wall 122,respectively, of the rear channel bar 113 and rest on the web 119 ofthis rear channelbar. These connections between the back supports andthe channel bars are 'alsotdesirably welded. 7

It will thus be seen that the'invention provides a novel chairconstruction in which the metal supporting frame for the chair seat andback is simple but nevertheless sturdy and durable, and while but twospecific embodiments of the invention have been herein shown anddescribed it will be understood that numerous details thereof may bealtered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention asthe same is defined by the following claims.

We claim:

1. In a chair: a pair of parallel, horizontally disposed,forwardly-rearwardly spaced, upwardly opening front and rear channelbars, the front channel bar having a flange extending forwardly from theupper edge of its front wall and the rear channel bar having a flangeextending rearwardly from the upper edge of its rear wall; a chair seatsupported on said flanges; fastening means passing through the flangesand the chair seat for securing the seat to the channel bars; legs forthe chair secured to and depending from the opposite ends of saidchannel bars; a back support comprising a substantiallyhorizontalportion having its front end secured to the front bar and extendingrearwardly therefrom beneath the chair seat into engagementwith the rearbar, and a substantially vertical portion extending thence upwardly inthe rear of the chair seat; anda .chair back mounted on the upper endofsaid back support.

2. In a chair: a pair of parallel, horizontally disposed,forwardly-rearwardly spaced, upwardly opening front and rear channelbars, the front and rear walls of said channel'bars having end portionsextending outwardly beyond the webs: of the bars, the end portions ofthe front walls ofthe bars being bent forwardly, then outwardly and Ithen rea-rwal'dly, and the end portionsof the rear'iwalls of the barsbeing bent rearwardly, then outwardly and finally forwardly thus formingwith the bent end portions of the front Walls downwardly opening legsockets; legs for-the chair having their upper ends seated 'in saidsockets; and a chair seat supported on the channel bars.

3. A chair according to claim 2 characterized'by' having'the'endportions of the front and rear walls of the I channel barscurled so that the leg sockets forrned'thereby are substantiallycylindrical for receiving the upper ends of tubular metal legs.

4. A chair according to claim 2 *characterized'byhaving the end portionsof the front and rear walls' of the channel bars so bent that the legsockets formed thereby and the chair legs depending-therefrom aredownwardly divergent.

5. A chair according to claim 3 characterized by having the end portionsof the front and rear walls of the channel bars so curled that thesubstantially cylindrical leg sockets formed thereby and the tubularmetal legs depending therefrom are downwardly divergent.

6.- In a chair: a pair of paralleL-horizontally disposed, forwardlyrearwardly spaced, upwardly opening front and rear channel bars eachhaving a front flange extending forwardly from the upper edge'of itsfront wall and a rear flange extending rearwardly from the upper edge ofits rear wall; a chair seat supported on said flanges; legs for thechair secured to and depending from the opposite ends of saidchannel'bars; a pair of back supports comprising substantiallyhorizontal portions having their front ends secured to the front channelbar and extending rearwardly therefrom beneath the chair seat intoengagement with the rear'channel bar, and substantially verticalportions extending thence upwardly in the rear of the chair seat; and achair back mounted on the upper ends ofsaid back supports.

7. A chair according to claim 6 characterized by having the rear channelbar at a slightly lower level than the front channel bar and by havingthe back supports extending from the front channel bar rearwardlydownwardly beneath the chair seat into engagement with the rear channelbar and thence upwardly.

8. A chair according to claim 7 characterized by having metal channelbars, tubular metal legs and tubular metal back supports, the upper endsof the legs being welded to the channel bars, and the back supportsbeing welded to front and rear channel bars at their points ofintersection.

9. In a chair: a pair of parallel, horizontally disposed,forwardly-rearwardly spaced, upwardly opening front and rear metalchannel bars each having a front flange extending forwardly from'theupper edge of its front Wall and a rear flange extending rearwardly fromthe upper edge of its rear wall, said rear channel bar being at aslightly lower level than said frontchannel bar, the front and rearwalls of said channel bars having end portions extending outwardlybeyond the webs of the bars, the end portions of the front walls of thebars being curled forwardly, then outwardly and then rearward'ly, andthe end portions of the rear Walls of the bars being curled rearwardly,then outwardly" and finallyforwardly into welded connect-ion with thecurled end portions'of the front walls thus forming downwardly openingsubstantially cylindrical leg sockets; tubular metal legs for the chairhaving their upper ends seated in said sockets and welded therein,rs-aid legs depending from the sockets divergently; a chair seatsupported on-theupper front and rear flanges of the channel bars;fastening means passing through some of the flanges and'the chair seatfor securing the seat to the channel bars; a pair of tubular metal backsupports having their front ends welded to the front channel bar andextending rearwardly-downwardly therefrom beneath the chair seat intoWelded engagement with the rear channel bar and thence turned upwardlyin the rear of the chair seat; and a chair back mounted on-the upperends of said back supports.

10. In a chair: a pair of parallel, horizontally disposed,forwardly-rearwardly spaced front and rear channel bars each having asubstantially horizontal web portion and front and rear walls extendingsubstantially vertically from said web portion, the front and rear wallsof said channel bars having end portions extending outwardly beyond saidbars web portion and the pairs of adjacent end portions being oppositelybent to form downwardly opening leg sockets; legs for the chair havingtheir upper ends seated in said sockets; and a chair seat supported onthe channelbars.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS569,806 'White Oct. 20, 1896 1,864,535 Hach et a1. June 28, 19322,256,996 Bales Sept. 23, 1941 2,547,296 White Apr. 3, 1951 FOREIGNPATENTS 128,179 Germany Feb. 15, 1902 253,914 Switzerland Nov. 16, 1948

